Vanessa Low has lessons we can all take on board

It's also a relief, and an inspiration, to watch great athletes performing to the best of their abilities, competing on the world stage and achieving their goals.

Role models, in sport as in everywhere in life, have much to teach us about overcoming adversity.

The recent Olympic Games in Tokyo was a surprisingly heartwarming and positive experience from the perspective of viewers, the vast majority of whom were confined to their homes around the world.

And now, the Paralympic Games have given us even more of a reason to seek out inspiration, find inner wells of resilience, and feel proud of our nation.

And there's no better person to give us this than Vanessa Low - the 31-year-old long jump champion who, this week, broke the Paralympic world record three times.

And she's a Canberran, having adopted the city as her home, marrying fellow Paralympian Scott Reardon and becoming an Australian citizen ahead of the Tokyo Games.

The German-born athlete is no stranger to adversity; she lost both legs in a train accident at the age of 16, spent two weeks in a coma, and then the next two years learning to walk again.

Competitive sports had never been on the cards before her accident, and it wasn't until well into her recovery, after she had met many more modest milestones (like returning home, going back to school and seeing her friends) that she was drawn into running and competing.

She has said in the past that competing on the world stage isn't about winning medals. She told The Canberra Times in 2018 it was more about living in the moment.

"I don't think that people realise that medals aren't the main part for us," she said.

"One medal is not what we train for, we train for the moment.

"Being in the stadium and knowing that I was at my best and knowing that my parents were there watching me, making them proud and me being proud of what I've achieved and actually enjoying the moment, that was the real reward."

Watching the footage this week of her tears of relief, and of her husband watching in the stands, was every bit as inspiring as seeing her torch the T63 competition, jumping 5.16m, 5.20m and finally 5.28m among her six attempts, breaking three world records in a single event.

It was yet another moment to celebrate the kind of spirit not even a pandemic can tamp down.

Vanessa has become one of our great adopted Canberrans, and we are so very proud of her, just as we are proud of all Australians who have made it as far as competing in the Paralympic Games.

Her win is the culmination of many long years of hard work and triumph over adversity and terrible misfortune.

But she doesn't even see it that way. In her words, she made a choice once she realised the implications of her horrific accident.

"I always keep saying my story isn't about adversity, it's always about the choice, and I basically took the choice to make the best out of it," she says.

It's a sentiment many of us would do well to take onboard, and one that can apply to many situations we may find ourselves in, including our current collective adverse situation.

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